The Mittens Are Coming, The Mittens Are Coming!

Gratuitous summer fun pic, just because...

Maybe it was the recent cold snap, who ever heard of highs in the 60s in a Minnesota July? We may be known for some blustery winters, but we also have our fair share of hot and humid (for a few short weeks) every summer (it's not the heat, it's the humidity, hehe).

Whatever the reason, I had an urge to make some mittens. Here's an in process shot-

I'm loving them. The new Spud & Chloe Outer is so soft, this must be what it would feel like if mittens could be made out of clouds. Ok, maybe not, but it's seriously soft. I can't get over it, talk about excessive yarn petting.... It's begging to be made into many baby things, just begging, I can almost hear it. Next up, though, will be a coordinating hat for the new mittens. Bring on the global cooling!

Sneak peak at a new Spud & Chloe project. Must wrap up the writing, like yesterday, or the day before.

Son #2 (10 yrs) was seen off to camp on Monday, for the very first time, deep breath in, let it out... (Susan promised that Wisconsin would take care of him for me!) It will be an odd week without him, and I'm sure it will fly by way too fast, especially for him. Son #1, teenager, heads off next week. Then, suddenly soccer season will start and we'll dive into our homeschool year (still gathering curriculum...) With kids in 10th, 5th, 3rd, 1st, and K4, and a preschooler and a baby, this will be my busiest season ever. Lots and lots and lots of planning is necessary to pull this off, so I am in major listmaking mode. Writing lists, changing lists, typing lists, tweaking lists, you name it, I'm listing it, or it just won't get done, not a chance.

I just remembered it's my birthday tomorrow, there goes that Time, flying away again... I'm off to make the most of this August! Are you making the most of yours?

Happy knitting-

ali

Tiny Mittens

Not as tiny as the tiny sweaters... but my sister knit these for the little hands of my cold dear children.
Then I spent an hour exercising a little ADD, putting off a couple projects, playing with Fireworks (as I don't yet own Photoshop, sigh...) and ended up with this.

Why? It really serves no useful purpose, other than the simple joys I get when playing with anything creative. It really can be addicting. But then supper needed to be cooked, served, eaten, and cleaned up after... and then there was the little run to the ER for x-rays to see if 8 year old's ankle was broken... just a bad sprain, poor little guy. Thankfully, we have yet to require a cast for any broken bones around here. There was a toe incident, which only resulted in a little 'buddy taping', but that really doesn't count now, does it? And that would make 2 ER trips in 4 days- it's getting to be a bad habit... baby has pneumonia (and set a family temperature record, coming in at 105.9) and that has kinda slowed the knitting progress as there has been a lot of baby holding. I may have knit while nursing a wee one, but an active (and sicky-crabby) 13 month old is a different story- she likes to pull on needles... she pulled a needle out of the sock I brought with to work on... ugh... she's in bed now, I should be knitting.

Back to my sister's mitten gifting. So cool to have a sister who makes sweet things for my little people. She was teaching herself to do colorwork, with bulky, for small hands... why didn't I think of that? I taught myself to do colorwork doing this...

Celtic Cardigan from "Knitter's Stash, Favorite Patterns from America's Yarn Shops"

After I had spent a day learning to cast on, knit and purl, I figured I knew what I was doing so I ran out and bought some Red Heart yarn and cast on for my very first sweater. I didn't even have a garter ridge scarf under my belt... classic overachiever move. That sweater lies unfinished, just needs another sleeve, which I know wouldn't even take a week... but I've moved on to greater things, well, more distracting things, and definitely greater yarns, though the Red Heart served my beginner budget well. Now that I've shared that sad tale, I may get up the gumption to knit that sleeve that has plagued my mind with knitter's guilt for several years now. Cyber accountability... we'll see. It won't be this week, my husband's sleeves are much higher on the priority ladder. And they're calling me, right now, can you hear them?

happy knitting,
ali